GBM InkShow: Pen + Touch on the Fujitsu Lifebook T900

During my recent evaluation of the Fujitsu Lifebook T900 Tablet PC, I decided to record a little demonstration of the complementary pen and multi-touch input on its dual digitizer screen. Pretty basic stuff, but while we’ve seen plenty of pen or touch demos, I don’t think enough attention has been paid to using them together. Yes, in a novel move, I am showing ink in this InkShow. :)

Comments

Are you using the SmudgeGuard for comfort (low friction) or to avoid touch activation. If the latter, are you using it pre-emptively to avoid possible problems, or did you find the proximity detection insufficient to prevent unintended “clicking” in actual use?

Both, but it is important to note that as a consequence of using pen-only Tablet PCs for five years, I have developed poor habits when it comes to resting my hand on the screen. I brush away dust, tap the screen with my pinky, and let the side of my hand glide across the screen. While the palm rejection isn’t perfect, I would attribute most of my problems to user error. As I state in my review though, palm rejection is much better in ink-aware applications, like OneNote and Windows Journal, than in others.

Yeah, as a long-time Motion slate user, I too am used to worry-free inking and screen-fondling. While I’m very tempted by these new pen+touch screens, if I have to start worrying about the same things that keep me away from resistive digitizers, I wonder whether I ought to stick w/ pen-only devices. Do you know if it’s possible/easy to completely toggle the touch input on or off? It might be nice to keep enabled sometimes, but packing a glove to ensure hiccup-free notetaking isn’t a great option in an environment that, for example, requires frequent hand-washing.

I did not come across that setting, but I didn’t go out of my way to look for it either since pen + touch was one of the major focuses of my evaluation. If it’s there, it’s hidden among several touch and pen and tablet utilities.

Also, I know you and Warner are big fans of Windows Journal, but I’d love to see somebody take OneNote 2010 our for a spin with a multi-input tablet like this. I believe there’s some input tool auto-switching that would be nice to see in action.

For instance, I see that you’re able to seamlessly switch from inking to 2-finger scrolling in Windows Journal. Using OneNote, I’m wondering if you can switch between inking and the “panning hand” just by alternating between pen and single-finger touch input.

Actually, I believe Warner uses OneNote daily, while I’m the only Windows Journal devotee here. Others have confirmed that OneNote 2010 does recognize the difference between pen and touch and automatically switches between ink and panning, respectively.

I have a T4310 with the dual digitisers, very similar to the tested fujitsu.
I have been using the onenote beta all semester and the switching between pen and touch automatically is gold. It is also near impossible to smudge as usually if the pen comes of the screen that much that touch is renabled, your hand is no longer on the screen. (If the pen is detected ie you can see the dot moving, touch is fully disabled)
On the odd occasion I slightly move my screen or add the extra dot but generally I can even clean my screen with the touch on and not make too much of a mess.

Hi, I have a new Fujitsu Lifebook T901 tablet with new Lifebook ( Wacom ) pen, Windows 7, 64 bit, but the pen works nowhere near as well as on my older T4220 with W XP, 32 bit. When writing in Office Onenote, the lines are jagged as if I’ve got some sort of tremeor, which I don’t. Using the older pen on the new tablet is still jagged. I’ve checked the drivers and all settings etc, and all is up to date. Would you have any suggestions. Les Manning